


It's all he gets to have

by myhead_myuniverse



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Boys In Love, Confused Theo Raeken, First Kiss, Good Theo Raeken, Jealous Liam, Love Confessions, Love and bruises, M/M, Thiam, fight, pack meeting, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:42:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25075564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myhead_myuniverse/pseuds/myhead_myuniverse
Summary: Maybe it’s Theo’s anger that makes him say it. When the chimera throws insults through his teeth, he keeps clenched together to keep himself from losing control and shifting. Maybe it’s when the weight of his fist land on Liam’s stomach first and on his jaw seconds later because he probably, definitely, deserved it.But then maybe, just maybe, it’s for what comes after, when the chimera presses a bag of ice on Liam’s skin like the werewolf can’t do it himself. When he strokes his jaw to see if it’s broken or against the skin of his stomach to see if the bruises already disappeared. Maybe it’s the fact that he doesn’t need his fingers to see but touches anyway.
Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken
Comments: 5
Kudos: 89





	1. Maybe

_**Maybe** _

Maybe it’s Theo’s anger that makes him say it. When the chimera throws insults through his teeth, he keeps clenched together to keep himself from losing control and shifting. Maybe it’s when the weight of his fist lands on Liam’s stomach first and on his jaw seconds later because he probably, definitely, deserved it.

But then maybe, just maybe, it’s for what comes after, when the chimera presses a bag of ice on Liam’s skin like the werewolf can’t do it himself. When he strokes his jaw to see if it’s broken or against the skin of his stomach to see if the bruises already disappeared. Maybe it’s the fact that he doesn’t need his fingers to see but touches anyway. Maybe it’s because it’s the only time that Theo shows that he cares.

That’s a lie and he knows it. Theo cares, now he does. He cares about him, about Mason, Corey, Alec and the rest of the pack. He knows Theo cares but, in those times, he seems to care even more. He seems to care about Liam like the younger man cares about him. _Too much._

Liam’s the only person he knows who would do something like that. Fall in love with an ex-murderer, one who tried to kill his friends if it wasn’t bad enough. To his defence this criminal came back from literal hell and saved his life so many times.

Everybody wants that, everybody wants to fall in love with their personal hero. So that’s what he did. Nobody can blame him.

Nobody except Theo.

That’s something the chimera would do. Tell Liam how dumb and irresponsible he is. Then he’ll probably run.

Liam knows what he’ll say, no matter if the feelings are returned or not. He knows too well the words that’ll leaves his mouth.

Maybe that’s why he shuts up.

Maybe that’s why he keeps starting fights.

Because he can’t have him.

Because all he has, is those little moments.

Maybe that’s why.


	2. It's all just a compromise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hmm? Isn’t it enough? Doesn’t it give me the right to fall in love with you.” 
> 
> The older man’s heart skips a beat in his chest. Love. The word love fell off Liam’s lips. It feels like a punch in the gut. He’s never… No one’s ever… 
> 
> What?
> 
> “What?” He says, his voice barely a broken whisper. “You love me?.”
> 
> Thoughts are pushing each other in Liam’s head. He really didn’t mean to bring those words to life,

He slams the door behind himself, knowing really well Theo’s following him on his heels. The chimera catches the door just before it hits him in the face, groaning in annoyance. “Seriously?” The older man is seconds away from exploding. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

It’s a good question, Liam himself can’t really answer it. Well, he can, deep down he knows why he’s been a dick all day, but he can’t admit it out loud. He clenches his jaw tightly at the memory of the girl running her fingers down Theo’s arm. “You’re just fucking annoying.”

Theo’s eyes roll in the back of his head. He would be offended if Liam wasn’t so bad at lying. “Oh sorry, for breathing next to you.” He knows it’s going to rile Liam up, but he doesn’t really care. “Little puppy, so sensitive.” He throws in his signature smirk, watching as Liam’s hands fold in fists.

“You’re such an asshole.” The werewolf pushes through his teeth. He knows all of this is irrational, but he really can’t help himself. Theo and he are pretty good at getting things to escalate, he knows that in a few minutes they’re going to fight and nothing’s going to stop them. “You can’t even think about someone else then yourself for one minute! Shitty fucking friend.”

It doesn’t even have anything to do with what they were talking about. The comment is purely to rile him up, to hurt him. “You didn’t open your mouth to say anything other then whiny moans!” The chimera expects the punch coming his way.

He stumbles a few steps back, wiping the blood running down his nose with the back of his hand, a chuckle escaping his lips. “Typical. You’d rather hit me than fucking talk about your problems.” Theo’s more ready when Liam swings his fist towards his face. He catches it while kneeing the werewolf in the stomach and twisting his arm behind his back.

The younger man manages to get out of his grip and turns around, not fast enough to dodge the knuckles aiming for his face. Theo’s fist lands on his cheek and then on his stomach before he drops on his knees. “Are you done?” The werewolf nods, catching up his breath.

The chimera helps him on his feet and sits down on his bed. Just like he always does, Theo’s fingers run down Liam’s nose and then across his ribs. The older man swears it’s to make sure that no bones are broken and to be able to push them back in place if they are.

Liam doesn’t even focus on what his friend is doing, his eyes locked on Theo’s face. “Can’t tell if you’re staring because you want to murder me or because you want to kiss me.”

“Both.” The teenager answers in a heartbeat. He should really learn to think before talking, his impulsivity often getting him in trouble.

Confusion flashes through Theo’s eyes. Is Liam joking? Of course, he is, there’s no way that the werewolf would fall for him. He’s aware they became somewhat friends over the months, with Theo living across the hallway, but with everything he’s done to Liam and his pack, there’s no way the teenager is dumb enough to fall for him. No matter how much he wants him to.

“You want to kiss me?” His words are soft and careful. Just in case.

He should really learn to shut up, but Theo’s tongue runs across his bottom lip and all Liam can do is nod slowly, his eyes tracking the movement. “I…Yeah.”

Both their hearts are pounding in their chests. “Have for a while.”

Theo almost can’t breathe through the lump in his throat. “That’s probably one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard coming out of your mouth.” Liam’s eyes snap up to meets Theo’s, anger quickly rising inside of him. The chimera called him dumb numerous times before but hearing it as he describes Liam’s feelings makes anger spread through his chest.

Breathe Liam. Breathe.

Screaming at Theo wouldn’t help. “Why?”

It’s Theo’s turn to feel the anger rushing through his body. What did he mean _“Why”_? How can the boy be so reckless and stupid? “Oh, I don’t know, maybe because I’m a murderer? Because I tried to kill you and all of your friends? Isn’t that enough for you?” The chimera throws his hands up, baffled by the boy’s cluelessness.

“How about when you saved my life? Again and again and again. Or when you took care of me? When I couldn’t control my self and almost killed Nolan and Gabe. Or when you stayed behind because you knew I couldn’t handle the thought of the others going to college and the pressure of looking over the town by myself? Or when you kept following Mason and Corey home because you wanted to make sure they’re making it safely?” Theo sucks in a breath, how did he know about this?

“Hmm? Isn’t it enough? Doesn’t it give me the right to fall in love with you.”

The older man’s heart skips a beat in his chest. Love. The word love fell off Liam’s lips. It feels like a punch in the gut. He’s never… No one’s ever…

What?

“What?” He says, his voice barely a broken whisper. “You love me?.”

Thoughts are pushing each other in Liam’s head. He really didn’t mean to bring those words to life, but now that he admitted it, it’s too late to take it back. “I do.”

“Since when?” It’s the first question that comes to his mind. Because, really, he doesn’t know when Liam’s perspective of him changed. In between two insults or as Theo’s fist landed on his skin. Was it during one of their numerous fights or as the ex-murderer riled him up until he exploded?

Really, the werewolf thinks it started when Theo pushed him in the elevator, saving him from the ghost riders. He remembers the confusing feelings rising up inside of him making his love for Hayden falter. He didn’t know what it was at the time, misinterpreting it as thankfulness and even hate.

It escalated as he watched him fight by their sides through the hunters. The “coup de grâce” was watching the chimera interacts with his family, waking up in the weekend to Theo and his mother cooking breakfast or falling asleep on the couch, Theo and his dad’s voice in the background. It was watching the happiness spread through his friend’s face as he unwrapped the gift they bought for him, finally admitting he couldn’t remember the last time someone remembered his birthday. Maybe it’s the first time he caught him having a nightmare, Theo shaking, sweating and crying, eyes still firmly closed. Maybe it’s how startled he looked waking up and how hard he was holding onto Liam.

Maybe it’s when Liam noticed how safe and comfortable he felt by the chimera’s side.

“I don’t know. That day my mom taught you how to cook pancakes.” The corner of Theo’s lips twitches upwards at the memory, remembering the first time he felt like he was part of a family. “Maybe that first birthday you spent with us or when you took Gabe’s pain. Probably even before that, when you saved me from the ghost riders.”

It was a long long time ago.

He locks his eyes with Liam’s. “I don’t deserve this.”

The boy frowns in confusion. “Love?” Does Theo think he doesn’t deserve to be loved? The teenager nods knocking the breath out of Liam’s lungs. “It’s not about deserving, love isn’t about deserving it. But you do, deserve it if somehow you’re doubting. I don’t know a lot of villain who would work like you do to get better, who would succeed at turning their lives around. I don’t see a lot of bad guys caring for the ones they once tried to kill, never seen them sacrifice themselves for someone’s safety or live around people who hates him only to save some innocents. I don’t see a lot of them working through regret and guilt.”

The chimera quickly wipes away a tear rolling down his cheek. He doesn’t remember the last time he cried, probably when he was around eight, screaming for his mother at the top of his lungs face pressed against the cold concrete of the doctors’ new laboratory. “You don’t have to feel the same.” Liam says, anxiety finally catching up to him. His fingers are shaking where they’re wrapped around his knees. “You’ll still be my friend and it won’t change anything between us or with my parents. You’ll still be living across the hallway and I’ll find a way to get over it.”

He doesn’t want to. God. He doesn’t want to work through the pain of letting Theo go, or erasing every romantic feeling he’s ever had for him. Loving Theo felt good, felt right. Loving Theo felt freeing in all the ways that dating Hayden wasn’t.

But he needs the brunet in his life so he’ll do everything he can to keep him by his side, even if it means forgetting he loves him. “I do.” The ex-murderer finally breathes out, his shoulder falling like a weight had been lifted off of them. “Love you I mean.”

A large smile stretches Liam’s lips at the revelation. He gets up on his feet, only inches away from the man he loves. "Can I kiss you?” A smirk tugs the corner of Theo’s lips as he nods slowly, tilting his head to catch Liam’s lips with his.

Theo can easily say he’s never been this happy in his life.

His future used to be planned, all laid out in front of him. He used to know every move long before he’d make them, long before his opponent even though about it. He used to know exactly how it would look like, what he would become.

He’s never been so happy to be wrong.

*****************************************************************************

Thing is, he knew his parents would be ecstatic to know that their son finally gathered up his courage and confessed to Theo. He knew they would be happy to see them together.

He knew Mason would smile, that Mason would laugh and tease them about it being damn time. He knew his best friend and Corey would jump up at the revelation, knew they would find every occasion they could to go on double dates.

He knew Lydia would say something before he could find the words to tell her. He knew Lydia would happily watch him struggle before casually throwing “It’s about you and Theo isn’t it?” making the stress float away from his body. He knew she would understand, that she noticed the same things he did, that she knew how good Theo had been for him.

Most of the others wouldn’t care.

But he still had to go through Scott, Stiles and Malia.

The werecoyote is still jumpy at the simple mention of the chimera’s name, heart racing in hate and disgust.

He could understand Stiles’ hatred. Through all of the dread doctors Stiles had been the one warning them about Theo and, though he was right, nobody even listened to him. He lost the most, watching his friends slowly drift away from him as the chimera manipulates them to shift their trusts. He killed someone and lost his best friend. He could understand Stiles hatred. Moreover, Stiles was the one spending the most time away from Beacon Hills, completely unaware of the help Theo was through all this time. Sure, they told him what happened but Liam’s pretty sure he only believes half of it.

And Scott well… Theo did try to kill him, make his beta do the dirty job and then steal his pack. On the other hand, Liam thinks that the alpha’s seen all the effort Theo made through the past months. He’s not sure Scott’ll be happy but maybe he’ll understand.

****************************************************************************

Liam slides his sweaty palm against Theo’s in a crushing grip. The chimera barely notices it over the feeling of his heart trying to burst out of his chest.

“You two… Together.” Stiles says, pointing at the two of them in disbelief. Malia groans out loud making Theo flinch. “It’s a joke right.” The human looks around himself trying to find someone as shocked as him beside his two friends sitting next to him.

Lydia shakes his head, silently asking him to calm down and stay seated. “It’s not.” Liam answers firmly, his eyes moving from Malia to Scott to Stiles.

“Ok.” Scott simply says getting up on his feet. He reaches his hand out for Theo to take it. The chimera does, shaking the alpha’s hand as a sign of peace. Liam wants to question it, he really does but he also remembers the call Scott made to Theo back when they were dealing with the hunters.

He remembers the trust he put in the chimera to save his only beta in an hospital full of people trying to kill him. He thinks that Scott started forgiving Theo around that time, noticing how, for the first time, the brunet seemed to care more about someone else than himself.

In reality, the alpha would be lying if he said he didn’t see it coming. All the pinning was getting heavy. Glances thrown across the room, lingering touches that were more than friendly, each other’s name leaving their lips too often and all the time spent together. He knew it was coming. He just wished Liam trusted him enough to come tell him first, but he guesses he understands why he didn’t, his and Theo’s history is heavy.

“So, you’re just ok with this?” Stiles’ surprise is evident. The human almost curses as his best friend shrugs.

“I’ve seen it coming, I knew it wouldn’t be long before one of them made a move.” The words make the beta smile, at least his alpha understood.

“And you just let it happen? What the fuck Scott?!” Malia takes this time to get up on her feet too, following her boyfriend’s actions.

“If you don’t ask me to like him, I can promise not to kill him but that’s the best I can do.” She holds her hand out in front of Liam never glancing to the chimera next to him. He could live with being ignored, he wasn’t the biggest fan of Malia either.

Liam knows it’s the best he can get from her. He shakes her hand with a smile before the werecoyote snuggles back in her boyfriend’s arms. “Seriously?” Stiles almost screams, making the chimera flinch once more. “So, it’s all back to where it was before? Me on one side and all of you siding with Theo the heartless murderer.”

Honestly, he deserved that.

Liam doesn’t think he does though, eyes flashing yellow and growl leaving his lips. The human’s eyes widen at the werewolf’s reaction. “You’re never here Stiles.” Liam starts off trying to gain back his composure. “You’re not and the others aren’t either and while you’re all gone the only thing keeping me sane, keeping us safe is Theo. He found you when the ghost riders were here, he fought with us when the hunters were trying to kill us. He saved me more times than I can count.”

He takes a deep breath, trying the decipher the look on Stiles’ face. “And I understand ok, you know I do, you weren’t the only one getting hurt at the time. This Theo isn’t the same one that tried to tear us down. If you’d been there you’d understand.” The human looks at him in disbelief. He wants to believe him so bad, but the last time someone put their trusts in Theo, they almost all ended up dead.

“He’s right.” Mason jumps in, making all the heads turn to him. “He’s been working hard to try and make us feel safe after the people of our own town tried to kill us. I didn’t want to believe it either Stiles, but he’s changed.”

“Well, he cooked me pancakes one morning.” Lydia throws in making the chimera blush.

“It was supposed to be a secret.” Theo groans making the banshee laugh at the new shade painting his cheeks. The chimera had overheard a conversation between Liam and Lydia saying that the banshee wasn’t feeling so great and that no one was home to take care of her.

It was the first time the chimera hung out alone with a pack member that wasn’t Liam. He was surprised Lydia even let him in, but it had been a good day. He made pancakes for breakfast and soup for lunch, spending the day talking with the strawberry blond, about life in general, about her college and his new life. “We worked on my car together.”

Derek throws in nonchalantly. In fact, other than Liam, Derek is probably Theo’s only friend. It helped that the werewolf wasn’t around as the chimera tried to tear apart the Mccall pack. Derek only saw the good side of him, the Theo he was now. Sharing their traumatic past, they easily became friends.

Stiles can see, from what he’s seen, from what he’s heard that this Theo fits between them more than he would like him to. He fits with Liam even more than Hayden ever did.

He would never admit it out loud.

Even though he’s pretty sure that the reflex of watching Theo’s every move will never fade away, maybe he can, for once, trust his friend like they trusted him. He can give it a shot.

He’s not ready to accept it, but, a little bit like Malia, he’s ready to make compromises.

He’ll keep being annoying and, probably, though he’ll try not to, keep having an eye on him. But he’ll try. He can try to keep his comments to himself, try to stop saying he hates him every time he sees him.

Maybe even try to know him, someday, not right now, but in the future. “I… Ok.” It’s a weak sigh, but it’s enough for Liam to feel hopeful. “I can give it a shot. I can’t promise not to be annoying and to stop having an eye on you, but I can promise to try.”

“It’s good enough.”

Theo chest fills with the happiness he never though he would have, promised to a much more sad and dark future.

That day, as he closes the door of the Dunbar house behind them, Theo can’t help but wrap his arms around Liam’s neck and pull him in a kiss. It’s slow and sweet and loving, it’s Theo pouring the mix of emotions caged in his chest.

His tongue drags over Liam’s bottom lip asking for access. The werewolf can’t deny him anything, slightly opening his lips to let Theo’s tongue stroke his.

He’s never felt happier. Both of them.

“I love you.” Theo says as he pulls back, their bodies still pressed together.

“I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading, it means a lot. Leave a comment if you want.  
> Sorry for the mistakes, english is not my first language.
> 
> Love you,  
> Lauren xxxx


End file.
